Pope Leo XIV during a Friday audience at the Vatican reminded teachers and students from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family of their mission to both speak and live the “common witness to the truth.”
“Your specific mission concerns the search for and common witness to the truth: in carrying out this task, theology is called to engage with the various disciplines that study marriage and the family, without being content merely to speak the truth about them but living it in the grace of the Holy Spirit and following the example of Christ, who revealed the Father to us through his actions and words,” he said in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 24.
In Leo’s audience with the institute — controversially re-founded by Pope Francis in 2017 to include the study of social sciences in addition to moral theology — he said the faithful “cannot ignore the tendency in many parts of the world to disregard or even reject marriage.”
“Even when young people make choices that do not correspond to the ways proposed by the Church according to the teaching of Jesus, the Lord continues to knock at the door of their hearts, preparing them to receive a new interior call,” the pontiff said. “If your theological and pastoral research is rooted in prayerful dialogue with the Lord, you will find the courage to invent new words that can deeply touch the consciences of young people.”
He added that our time is marked not just by tension and confusing ideologies but also by “a growing search for spirituality, truth, and justice, especially among young people.”
“Welcoming and caring for this desire is one of the most beautiful and urgent tasks for all of us,” Leo said.
In May, Pope Leo made one of his first personnel appointments as pope when he named Cardinal Baldassare Reina grand chancellor of the John Paul II Institute, replacing Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who turned 80 on April 20.
Reina, 54, has been vicar general of the Diocese of Rome since 2024. As part of that role, he is also grand chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University, the home of the John Paul II Institute.
Pope Leo’s appointment of Reina as grand chancellor appeared to be a return to the former practice of linking the leadership of the institute to the vicar general of Rome. This practice had been changed under Pope Francis, who named Paglia to the role in 2016.
In his address to students and teachers on Friday, Leo pointed out the institute’s commitment to deepening the link between the family and the social doctrine of the Church and urged them to let their studies of family experiences and dynamics enrich their understanding of the Church’s social teaching.
“This focus would allow us to develop the insight, recalled by the Second Vatican Council and repeatedly reaffirmed by my predecessors, of seeing the family as the first cell of society, as the original and fundamental school of humanity,” he said.
He also recalled Pope Francis’ encouragement to women expecting a child in his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
“[Francis’] words contain a simple and profound truth: Human life is a gift and must always be welcomed with respect, care, and gratitude,” Leo said.
Recalling that many women face pregnancy in situations of loneliness or marginalization, the pontiff called on the civil and Church communities to “constantly strive to restore full dignity to motherhood” through concrete actions, including “policies that guarantee adequate living and working conditions; educational and cultural initiatives that recognize the beauty of creating life together; a pastoral approach that accompanies women and men with closeness and listening.”
“Motherhood and fatherhood, thus safeguarded, are not burdens on society but rather a hope that strengthens and renews it,” he said.
This article was originally published by CNA.
